A Padfoots for life, Not just for Christmas
by meisalliam
Summary: The Marauders celebrate Christmas at the Potters. Whilst there Sirius learns about having a family.


_This was a story written for my friends eighteenth birthday and it thought I would share it._

_Disclaimer: None of the characters or places in this story belong to me._

Peter and Remus were starting to feel a little awkward. They could only sit silently

with the Potters so long before it got a bit embarrassing. The two boy had slept the first of several nights round the Potters during the Christmas Holidays and whilst all four Marauders had ended up talking late into the night only Peter and Remus had managed to emerge from sleep at a decent hour.

Finally after sitting sipping Coffee, James made an appearance. He had yet to shower or dress but managed to shuffle into the kitchen in his pyjamas and with his eyes closed. He took a mug from the rack and swallowed several mouthfuls of strong black coffee and managed to peel his eyes open and give a small gin at his best friends and parent.

"Morning" He mumbled around a mouthful of toast he had just stolen from Peters plate.

"You decided to wake up this side of noon then?" Mrs Potter asked. James simply nodded before taking another large bite of toast. "Is Sirius awake?"

This time James answered verbally "Yes." He put his hand over his mouth as crumbs sprayed everywhere, including over Remus who was sitting opposite him. Swallowing James offered an apology as Remus flicked pieces of toast off his jumper.

Just as the werewolf managed to get most of the offending food off his clothes Sirius made his grand entrance. Before the previous summer his grand entrance could have possibly involved some fireworks or exploding turnips but since running away and being forced to live on charity of other people Sirius had become far quieter and withdrawn. It hurt the marauders to see Sirius so sad. He looked lost and was struggling to find a place to fit.

Sirius was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans that kept falling down and a red jumper that again was to big. He was borrowing James' clothes because he had left all his winter clothes at his old house and had nothing warm to wear, and whilst the two boys used to be similar sizes James had recently gone through a major growth spurt and was now several inches taller and broader than Sirius so some of his clothes were to big for the boy.

Remus smiled at Sirius as he sat down next to him, his long black hair was still damp the only evidence that Sirius had just taken a shower.

"So what do the four of you plan to do today?" Mr Potter asked. Normally the four boys would spend Christmas together at Hogwarts so even their run up to the holiday was planned but they had total freedom as the decided to celebrate at the Potters for a change.

"Dunno," James said. "Its to cold to go outside."

"Ummm, I was wondering could I borrow some Floo powder, I really need to go shopping and I can't get there otherwise" Sirius asked looking at Mrs Potter.

"Why am I not surprised that you left your shopping to the last minute?" Remus laughed and the other Marauders joined in.

Ignoring them Mrs Potter replied "Of course you may Sirius, I might join you infact I still have a few things to buy."

After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, Mrs Potter and Sirius left to go to Diagon Alley. The rest of the marauders spent the day playing games and generally looking forward to Christmas.

Sirius fell out of the fire and managed to narrowly avoid landing on Mrs Potter. The both managed to regain balance and left the pub to head to the shops. The split up and both went on their own missions to find perfect present.

He already had James' at home which was a large book all about Quidditch, he was looking for something for Remus today as he had already sorted out Peters. He had gotten the rat a small clock work model of a rat that looked almost identical to Wormtail and Peter loved things like that.

As Sirius wandered he saw a sign for Flourish and Blotts and considered buying him a book, but he had no clue as to what he had read and what he had not. Deciding to look any way he went inside and began looking around.

He was drawn to a rack of book marks and started to look through them. He couldn't find anything that suited Remus.

"Excuse me" Sirius said to the teenage wizard behind the counter "Do you have any other bookmarks or only these."

"We make them on the spot if you have a request it takes about an hour."

Sirius immediately placed his order and said he would be back in an hour.

He went around the shops and gazed longingly at all the things he wanted for himself. Whilst not happy at Grimmauld place he never wanted for anything. And now he was living on borrowed money and the Potters generosity. He knew that eventually they would get fed up of him, hell he was surprised that they actually wanted him around at all.

Finally he went back to collect the bookmark and meet up with Mrs Potter.

"So what am I doing?" The doubtful look on Sirius face made all of the people in the room feel a bit sad for the boy. In his hand Sirius held a stand of tinsel and was looking at it as if it might attack him.

Peter finally took pity on the confused boy and explained (again) that they were decorating a Christmas Tree, and that all the lights and tinsel and glass balls went on the tree.

Sirius cautiously helped the others with the decorating but was just as happy to watch everyone else do the work as he relaxed on the sofa.

At some point the must have dozed off because the next thing he knew was that he was being bombarded by Marshmallows and looking up expected to see James and Peter throwing them at him, however the sight of Remus and Mr Potter in the middle of a marshmallow fight brought a smile to his face.

"Alright boys all of you bed now. Christmas Day is the one day a year James manages to wake up before dawn so be ready for a loud awakening" Mrs Potter announced. All four saluted and ,arched up the stairs with Mr and Mrs Potters laughter ringing in their ears.

"Merry Christmas!" James Yelled. At 6am the next morning,

Remus and James were awakened by the sixteen year old jumping up and down on their beds and forcing them up and into dressing gowns. He then repeated the process with his parents. "How come he wakes us up but not Sirius?" Peter asked.

"Just wait" James said excitedly, they all heard a loud splash and the a yell.

"DAMN YOU JAMES POTTER" Sirius stormed out of the room he was currently sharing with James.

Sirius stood in front of them, drenched from head to toe. He borrowed pyjamas clung to his thin frame and his hair was plastered to his face. He looked ready to kill. James gave a whopping laugh before running to avoid the still dripping Sirius who had started to chase him. The two boys ran around the top floor of the Potter's house the rest of the houses occupants were laughing at the boys until Sirius passed Mrs Potter and she noticed that he was shivering as the cold water started to feel even colder.

Mrs Potter reached into the airing cupboard and pulled a large wool blanket out and wrapped it round Sirius' shivering form as he passed for the seventh time. Mrs Potter held on to the wet boy knowing that if he wanted to then Sirius had the strength to tear away from her embrace. However Sirius lent into Mrs Potters arms. When they finally pulled apart to carry on with the Christmas celebrations Remus could see the unshed tears shining in Sirius' eyes.

After getting changed Sirius joined the rest of the group sitting downstairs and as he entered the lounge he was given a large mug of warm hot chocolate and chose to sit between Remus and James with Peter on the floor in front of them. As they sipped the warm drinks Mr Potter started to hand out the Christmas presents. The four boys all started to open the presents.

Remus decided to open the ones from the Marauders first as they were likely to explode if not opened quickly. From Peter for some unknown reason he had been given a calendar with pictures of the moon on. The ones from James consisted of a book all about magical creatures and a gift token fro Zonkos joke shop. That just left the white envelope from Sirius. He opened it and pulled out a small metal book mark. It showed a picture of a stag, a black dog and a rat sitting or standing round what looked like a young boy. Remus leant over and gave Sirius a one armed hug.

Mr and Mrs Potter also had an envelope from Sirius and opening it showed a letter,

_Dear Mr and Mrs Potter_

_I thought so long for what to get you for Christmas and I couldn't think of anything that comes close to repaying the kindness you have done me over the last few months. You took me into your home and treated me as nothing less that a member of your family and you are the first people to ever treat me like that. I will forever me grateful and thankful to you both._

_Sirius_

Mrs Potter felt he eyes well up and rushed over to give the boy a hug however in her haste she shocked Sirius who jumped up and managed to knock over his mug of hot chocolate. As the brown liquid seeped onto the carpet Sirius began to apologise.

"Oh my god I am so sorry I didn't mean to I will clean it up I am so sorry."

Mr Potter grabbed him by the elbow and looked him straight in the eye. "It doesn't matter about the drink Sirius that can be cleaned later. Right now it is important that you will always have a home in my house, a seat at my table and a place in my heart. As far as I am concerned you are my son."

Sirius rested his head on Mr Potters shoulder and let his eyes drift shut. Mrs Potter slipped her arm around the young boys waist and hugged him.

James smiled at the sight of his brother finally discovering what it was like to have parents who loved you for you and not what you could do for them.

The two other marauders decided that now would be a good time to leave the family alone and quietly left the room. Leaving James and Sirius with their parents.

_Please review and let me know what you think!_

_Love_

_Meisalliam_


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